Thursday, October 25, 2007
Holding it down: Blair Wingo
"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?'
They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'
'But what about you?' he asked. 'Who do you say I am?'
Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'
Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.'"
- Matthew 16:13-17 (NIV)
Peace and blessings,
I came across this video on Godtube of
Which I think is entitled "reintroduction to Christ" or something to that effect. In the poem, she touches on the various popular/mainstream conceptions of Jesus Christ (JC), and how they all get it wrong. She reminds us of the importance of seeking the JC of the bible, not the JC that fits our level of convenience. Check it out, spread the word, and share yout thoughts. What do you think? Do you think that Jesus is often mis-characterized in popular discourse/the mainstream? If so, why do you think this is so, and how can we as Christians respond? Have a blessed day and speekonit...
Note: If the link does not work, then go to Godtube.com and type in "allow me to re-introduce the Christ" or "Blair Wingo."
Labels: Bible, Blair Wingo, God, GodTube, Jesus Christ, mainstream, Matthew, Peter
Thursday, July 26, 2007
A Few Thoughtz: The Politics of Jesus, pt. 2
Peace and blessings,
During the last post, I provided my general thoughts on Dr. Hendricks’ “Politics of Jesus,” highlighting things that I agreed with and things I either disagreed or had concerns with. I now want to offer a potential explanation as to why I think he went to such great lengths (by “great lengths” I am referring to the extent to which he used biblical scripture to support and further his position) to urge us as Christians and those who may not be Christian but are passionate about issues of social justice to pay more attention to Jesus Christ’s revolutionary nature, and the implication of this nature on past, present, and future politics.
Looking back at the points in my life when I first realized that I was passionate about something, I noticed that whenever this realization occurred, it was as a result of experiencing or wrestling with two extremes simultaneously. In other words, once I learned something that was totally contrary to what I had previously been taught, I would kind of “flip out” in a sense. As a result, I would devote all of my energy embracing this “new” information that I would cut myself off from considering any other type of information that may differ from this “new” information that I was now fully embracing.
I think that Dr. Hendricks had a similar experience. It the start of the book he talks about his experiences with trying to understand God and Christianity as a child. He mentions how whenever he would suggest to others that the way he sees Jesus is different that how the Messiah has been characterized, portrayed, and widely represented historically and presently, he would run into opposition. In particular, he would be made to feel as if his “radical” view of Jesus is nothing more than a function of his misinterpretation or misunderstanding of the “real” Jesus: one who is meek, divine, and only concerned with our personal piety and salvation. As he got older, however, he began to become more engaged in the scriptures and realized that his “radical” notion of Jesus was not “wrong” or inaccurate. In fact, it was the exact opposite. In other words, Hendricks had discovered this “new” characterization of Jesus that was so drastically different than the apolitical characterization of Jesus that he was so accustomed to.
As a result, he focused most, if not all of his efforts on emphatically supporting this position. Further, I think that it was this simultaneous struggle between two drastically different conceptions of Jesus, and the resulting focus on supporting his “new” realization that Jesus was in fact a revolutionary, that explains why some of his interpretations of the scriptures (e.g. the passage in Matthew and the passage in Mark), seem to be earnestly trying to highlight some further social, economic, or political motive, when it is possible that it may not be.
As I said in the previous post, I am not saying that his interpretation of the passages in Matthew and Mark that I highlight are inaccurate, because I am in no way a biblical scholar, and he is. What I am saying is that for me personally, I do not see those larger motives. Second, there are plenty of interpretations of scriptures that he highlight in the book that I do agree with.
In conclusion, I want to note that Hendricks sheds some much deserved and long overdue light on some very important aspects of Jesus’ revolutionary nature, that in my opinion are just as important as His divine nature. In fact, I would argue that Jesus’ life and ministry is absolute proof that having an intimate relationship with God necessitates intimate relationships with others, such that we work to break down the walls of injustice, in any and every way God calls us to do so. We cannot be intimately connected to God if we are not also intimately connected to God’s children. Lastly, I think that the potential explanation I offered for as to why I think Hendricks was so “hard core” on arguing his position, reflects a larger issue regarding the “popular” conception of Jesus and Christianity that is prevalent within mainstream America. The sooner we start looking at Jesus’ divinity and revolutionary natures as sequential and interconnected (i.e. because He was divine, He was always concerned with holistically meeting people’s needs) and not polar opposites (or at the very least two separate, distinct, aspects), the better we will become as a people. Books that highlight the revolutionary nature of Jesus will then no longer be looked at as shocking revelations, but instead as confirmation.
What do you think? What is your conception of Jesus? Where does your conception of Jesus come from? Stay blessed, encouraged, and speekonit…
Labels: African American, children, Christianity, God, Jesus Christ, mainstream, Mark, Matthew, Politics of Jesus, relationship, revolutionary, scriptures
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Holding it Down: MLK Reloaded
Peace and blessings,
"THE SPIRIT of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound,"
- Isaiah 61:1 (NKJ AMP)
Out of all of of the justice fighters that are recognized within the U.S. as well as internationally, MLK, through his sermons, speeches, and activism is one of the most widely known and referenced. He was someone who embodied the type of love for and activism on behalf of others mentioned in this scripture. Despite the many issues he addressed and methods he used to address them, it is interesting how mainstream media has "selective memory" in terms of determining which aspects of MLK's activism to emphasize, and which aspects to downplay or even negelct. We are constantly told of the movement he helped lead in the name of achieving racial harmony. However, we are less often reminded of his concerns for the poor. We are often told of his dream of black and white children playing together in a racist-free climate. However, we are told less often about his discontent with the economic and political decisions made by those in power that are to the detrimental of the powerless. Despite the various ways in which MLK's life and service is celebrated, there still appears to be
Towards the last few years of his life, he seeemed to experiene a shift from focusing primarily with race relations to focusing on class divisions as well. In addition, he was more critical of the U.S.' capitalism as well as
What do you think? How do you remember the life and service of MLK? Are there any aspects of MLK's life that are not adequately addressed in textbooks or in the media? Weigh in and speekonit...
Labels: activism, attention, capitalism, economic, Isaiah, love, mainstream, media, MLK, movement, political, race relations, sermons, U.S., Vietnam war
Thursday, May 03, 2007
What Does It Take? (Pt. 2)
Peace and blessings,
It appears that as a result of theChristian Defense Coalition putting pressure on civil rights leaders, and the controversy that has surrounded hip-hop lyrics in the midst of the Imus incident, folks are taking action. On the music side, Russell Simmons is now urging companies to censor some of the artists' lyrics, a bold move given the issue of free speech and expression that characterizes all forms of music and all artistic expression. On the business side, Rev. Al Sharpton plans on purchasing stock in Time Warner and Universal Music Group, so that he can attend the board meetings and advocate for the censorship of offensive and degrading lyrics.
Although these moves are a long time coming, I am glad that serious, concrete steps are being taken in the right direction. While we may applaud these steps, however, we must be careful as to not become complacent such that we think that by these and similar moves, the problem will be "solved." When I look at this issue in its entirety, I see a three-pronged problem that requires and three-pronged solution. Two of the three aspects appear to be addressed in the above examples. Russell and Sharpton's moves address both the artist (via personal responsibility) and corporate (business) aspects of the problem and solution. What area these moves do not appear to address (at least explicitly), is the issue of women (and young girls') choices to be participate in these videos, recite the very lyrics that degrade them, and purchase the music. A while ago I was told that the majority of consumers of mainstream hip hop are white people and women. When I thought about it, that made sense. I know from personal experience as a hip-hop fan that if I wanted an album, I could find it somewhere (bootleggers, internet) for free and probably before the official release date. For real hip-hop heads, there really was not a need to purchase an album unless you really wanted to support them, because you could find it for free (this was until they started cracking down on bootleggers and illegal file sharing). Before moving on, let me clarify that I am not supporting bootlegging or illegal file sharing, but I am simply talking about what I used to do in the past when I really wanted an album.
Ok, back to the topic at hand. The point I am trying to make is that unless we (males, females, old, young, as a community) address the factors that influence womens' choices to participate in these videos and allow themselves to be degraded in these videos, then our efforts to limit arists' offensive lyrics will only be partially implemented and successful. I'm not saying that women shouldn't be in any videos, because there are videos that present women in a respectable, "degrading-free" light. What I am saying, however, is that we cannot only address the corporate heads and artists without addressing, supporting, respecting, and caring our women as well. Moreover, it is difficulty for women who oppose these offensive and degrading lyrics to state a legitimate claim when their fellow sistas are willfully participating in the very videos the women are trying to denounce. A problem affecting the whole community requires a community-wide solution. Plain and simple.
"Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall." (Luke 11:17, NKJ AMP)
Now is the time for all of us to address this issue at many different levels. Not to point fingers, but to form a fist and knock out this problem once and for all. Check out thiswebsite clearinghouse for grassroots efforts to combat misogyny in music for more information and to get involved.
It appears that as a result of the
Although these moves are a long time coming, I am glad that serious, concrete steps are being taken in the right direction. While we may applaud these steps, however, we must be careful as to not become complacent such that we think that by these and similar moves, the problem will be "solved." When I look at this issue in its entirety, I see a three-pronged problem that requires and three-pronged solution. Two of the three aspects appear to be addressed in the above examples. Russell and Sharpton's moves address both the artist (via personal responsibility) and corporate (business) aspects of the problem and solution. What area these moves do not appear to address (at least explicitly), is the issue of women (and young girls') choices to be participate in these videos, recite the very lyrics that degrade them, and purchase the music. A while ago I was told that the majority of consumers of mainstream hip hop are white people and women. When I thought about it, that made sense. I know from personal experience as a hip-hop fan that if I wanted an album, I could find it somewhere (bootleggers, internet) for free and probably before the official release date. For real hip-hop heads, there really was not a need to purchase an album unless you really wanted to support them, because you could find it for free (this was until they started cracking down on bootleggers and illegal file sharing). Before moving on, let me clarify that I am not supporting bootlegging or illegal file sharing, but I am simply talking about what I used to do in the past when I really wanted an album.
Ok, back to the topic at hand. The point I am trying to make is that unless we (males, females, old, young, as a community) address the factors that influence womens' choices to participate in these videos and allow themselves to be degraded in these videos, then our efforts to limit arists' offensive lyrics will only be partially implemented and successful. I'm not saying that women shouldn't be in any videos, because there are videos that present women in a respectable, "degrading-free" light. What I am saying, however, is that we cannot only address the corporate heads and artists without addressing, supporting, respecting, and caring our women as well. Moreover, it is difficulty for women who oppose these offensive and degrading lyrics to state a legitimate claim when their fellow sistas are willfully participating in the very videos the women are trying to denounce. A problem affecting the whole community requires a community-wide solution. Plain and simple.
"Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall." (Luke 11:17, NKJ AMP)
Now is the time for all of us to address this issue at many different levels. Not to point fingers, but to form a fist and knock out this problem once and for all. Check out this
Labels: artist, choices, controversy, degrading lyrics, Don Imus, hip-hop, Luke, mainstream, media, videos, women
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Access (not) Granted Pt. 1
Peace and blessings,
As you can see, I have recently been making many updates to the site. Although I have updated many of the site's components, I have recently been focusing more on the "Holy Hip-Hop Resources" section. This focus is the result of two factors. One is that I am a serious hip-hop head and would not turn down a freestyle or cypha if my ife depended on it, lol. Quiet as kept, I was actually one of two MCs in a live hip-hop band for a semester while in undergrad. The other reason why I have been adding more media, artist info, and other Christian hip-hop related stuff is because I know that God has created this subculture within the broader hip-hop culture for a reason. In my early teens, I got real heavy into the whole hip-hop/rap culture. My first hip-hop cd that I consistently rocked was Snoop's first album, "Doggysyle." From then on, I got my hands on any and every rap cd there was, from Ice Cube to DMX to Jay-Z to Bone Thugs and Harmony. You name it, I either had it on cd or used cassetts to record their songs off of the radio (real talk, that was the thing to do in the mid to late nineties, lol). In high school (in particular Junior and Senior year), I became more engulfed in the music and culture, to the point where if my boys and I did not freestyle either during lunch, after school, or driving home from school, then a brotha didn't feel right. In college my love for hip-hop grew stronger, but little did I know that God was working out something within me.
My first year of college, hip-hop played an important role in getting me through. By this I mean that in college everyone needs a healthy outlet to relieve stress and relax from the academic demands, and for me my outlets were hooping and freestyling, although freestyling occured much more often. When we couldnt find anything to do on the weekends or just wanted to "take a mental break," my friends and I would have freestyle sessions that would last hours. My sophomore year, my love for hip-hop remained the same, but what I loved about it started to change. Upon attending "Atlanta '02," a black student christian conference put on every three years in Atlanta by Black Campus Ministries (a branch of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship), I was most looking forward to attending the seminar on Hip-Hop. At the same time, however, I was alittle reluctant because I just knew that going to a Christain conference and discussing hip-hop (especially as it is represented in the mainstream), would mean that I would have to throw away all of my "secular" hip-hop cds (which at the time was all of them because I was not yet exposed to Christian hip-hop). To my surprise however, I did not leave the seminar feeling convicted to throw away all of my secular hip-hop cds. What I did learn from the seminar and thus took from it was that 1) "the church" (both in an institutional sense and in the sense of we as a collective of believers) should pay more attention to hip-hop culture because we cannot deny the influence it has on the lives of youth and young adults. 2) We also discussed how there are some "secular" artists (i.e. DMX, Pac, and Nas) who at times offer their perspective on who God is and what the power of God can do for people who are disenfranchised. It is important to note that the seminar's speaker did not condone the lyrics, behaviors, and messages of these artists, nor do I. He was just using them to illustrate the point that as Christians, we need to be aware of the cultural messages permeating the minds of our youth, and hip-hop is no exception. 3) Lastly, and probably most importantly, we learned that there is a spiritual battle going on within the the culture of hip-hop, and thus because of the culture's many facets and what it's often associated with in the mainstream, it is not for everyone. For example, although I did not feel that I had to throw away all of my secular cds, I did throw away most of them, not necessarily because I felt a strong conviction to do so, but because as God was widening my perspective in terms of the influence of hip-hop and how He intended it to be used, I no longer had the desire to listen to most of the stuff I used to let infiltrate my spirit. Now there are still a few secular artists I listen to from time to time (some pac, some jay-z, some nas, some AZ), but I have become alot more cautious of the type of music I listen to. In order to avoid making this post super long, the rest of this messsage will be included in part 2. Speekonit...
As you can see, I have recently been making many updates to the site. Although I have updated many of the site's components, I have recently been focusing more on the "Holy Hip-Hop Resources" section. This focus is the result of two factors. One is that I am a serious hip-hop head and would not turn down a freestyle or cypha if my ife depended on it, lol. Quiet as kept, I was actually one of two MCs in a live hip-hop band for a semester while in undergrad. The other reason why I have been adding more media, artist info, and other Christian hip-hop related stuff is because I know that God has created this subculture within the broader hip-hop culture for a reason. In my early teens, I got real heavy into the whole hip-hop/rap culture. My first hip-hop cd that I consistently rocked was Snoop's first album, "Doggysyle." From then on, I got my hands on any and every rap cd there was, from Ice Cube to DMX to Jay-Z to Bone Thugs and Harmony. You name it, I either had it on cd or used cassetts to record their songs off of the radio (real talk, that was the thing to do in the mid to late nineties, lol). In high school (in particular Junior and Senior year), I became more engulfed in the music and culture, to the point where if my boys and I did not freestyle either during lunch, after school, or driving home from school, then a brotha didn't feel right. In college my love for hip-hop grew stronger, but little did I know that God was working out something within me.
My first year of college, hip-hop played an important role in getting me through. By this I mean that in college everyone needs a healthy outlet to relieve stress and relax from the academic demands, and for me my outlets were hooping and freestyling, although freestyling occured much more often. When we couldnt find anything to do on the weekends or just wanted to "take a mental break," my friends and I would have freestyle sessions that would last hours. My sophomore year, my love for hip-hop remained the same, but what I loved about it started to change. Upon attending "Atlanta '02," a black student christian conference put on every three years in Atlanta by Black Campus Ministries (a branch of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship), I was most looking forward to attending the seminar on Hip-Hop. At the same time, however, I was alittle reluctant because I just knew that going to a Christain conference and discussing hip-hop (especially as it is represented in the mainstream), would mean that I would have to throw away all of my "secular" hip-hop cds (which at the time was all of them because I was not yet exposed to Christian hip-hop). To my surprise however, I did not leave the seminar feeling convicted to throw away all of my secular hip-hop cds. What I did learn from the seminar and thus took from it was that 1) "the church" (both in an institutional sense and in the sense of we as a collective of believers) should pay more attention to hip-hop culture because we cannot deny the influence it has on the lives of youth and young adults. 2) We also discussed how there are some "secular" artists (i.e. DMX, Pac, and Nas) who at times offer their perspective on who God is and what the power of God can do for people who are disenfranchised. It is important to note that the seminar's speaker did not condone the lyrics, behaviors, and messages of these artists, nor do I. He was just using them to illustrate the point that as Christians, we need to be aware of the cultural messages permeating the minds of our youth, and hip-hop is no exception. 3) Lastly, and probably most importantly, we learned that there is a spiritual battle going on within the the culture of hip-hop, and thus because of the culture's many facets and what it's often associated with in the mainstream, it is not for everyone. For example, although I did not feel that I had to throw away all of my secular cds, I did throw away most of them, not necessarily because I felt a strong conviction to do so, but because as God was widening my perspective in terms of the influence of hip-hop and how He intended it to be used, I no longer had the desire to listen to most of the stuff I used to let infiltrate my spirit. Now there are still a few secular artists I listen to from time to time (some pac, some jay-z, some nas, some AZ), but I have become alot more cautious of the type of music I listen to. In order to avoid making this post super long, the rest of this messsage will be included in part 2. Speekonit...
Labels: access, ATL, Black Campus Ministries, Christian hip hop, degrading lyrics, God, hip-hop, influence, lyrics, mainstream, visibility, youth
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